


the ice is getting thinner

by nightswatch



Series: transatlanticism [5]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-22 04:57:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2495270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightswatch/pseuds/nightswatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Enjolras finds a job and Grantaire gets a record deal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the ice is getting thinner

_You: five minutes_

_You: i swear_

_You: it won’t be more than ten_

_You: i’m gonna run_

_Enjolras: Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere._

_You: i know but you said you had news_

_Enjolras: It’s nothing exciting, I swear._

Grantaire tried not to be disappointed at that, because maybe, but just maybe, he’d been hoping that Enjolras was about to tell him that he’d be coming to New York. Preferably soon. If that had been the case, though, Enjolras probably would have told him already.

It wasn’t like they’d made definite plans anyway and Grantaire had been to Paris only two months ago, but they’d talked a couple of times during the last few weeks and it had sounded to Grantaire like Enjolras was planning _something_.

He sighed and typed out a reply.

_You: i’ll walk home then_

_You: fifteen minutes_

_You: maybe twenty_

_Enjolras: There’s really no hurry. I’ll be waiting._

Grantaire smiled, shoved his phone back into his pockets and slowly started walking home. He said hello to Jehan when he walked into their shared apartment, got himself a pop tart from the kitchen and then went to turn on his laptop.

Enjolras was already online and called him the second Grantaire opened Skype.

“Okay, whatever it is that you want to tell me, you’re obviously excited,” Grantaire said and took a bite of his pop tart. “Spit it out before you combust.”

Enjolras smiled, but then bit his lip. “I got an offer for a summer job,” he said lowly.

“That’s great,” Grantaire said. Well, Enjolras definitely wasn’t going to come visit him in the summer, then. “What kind of job?”

“Valjean’s company,” Enjolras replied, “but at the office in Paris. Cosette is going to be there too this summer and she’s going to be in charge of some new campaign. I don’t really have the details yet, but…”

“But they asked you,” Grantaire finished, smiling at him. “That’s fantastic news.” It sucked that it wasn’t the New York office, but that really would have been too good to be true.

“You’re not mad?” Enjolras asked, almost sounding timid now.

Grantaire frowned. “Why would I be mad?”

“Because I was going to come to New York this summer, but now I can’t.”

So he’d really been planning on visiting him. Grantaire sighed. “You never promised me anything.”

“But I wanted to,” Enjolras said with a shrug.

“Well, you’ll just have to come some other time, then,” Grantaire said. Or maybe he’d manage to scrape together enough money to go to Paris again, but that was highly unlikely.

Enjolras made a face. “I guess,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Grantaire scolded him. “That actually sounds like a great job and I bet you’re going to have a great time working with Cosette again.”

“And I’ll actually be making money,” Enjolras said, smiling now, “which means I’ll definitely be able to come see you later this year.”

“Just promise me you won’t feel bad for taking that job, okay?”

Enjolras nodded. “I won’t.”

“Good,” Grantaire said, “because I’m happy for you and I don’t want you to feel guilty.”

* * *

“He’s not mad.”

Combeferre looked up from his book and smiled at him, although his smile quickly crumbled when he saw Enjolras’ face. “And that’s a bad thing?”

“Well, I thought he would be,” Enjolras said with a shrug. He walked into Combeferre’s room and flopped down next to Combeferre. “He said he was happy for me.”

“Well, that means he probably is.” Combeferre scooted over to make space for Enjolras. “Or do you have reason to believe that he lied?”

“No, that’s not it,” Enjolras said. “I just thought that he’d care that I’m not coming to visit him.”

“I thought you didn’t even tell him that you were thinking about going to New York this summer?”

“Well, I didn’t.”

“Enjolras,” Combeferre said lowly. “What exactly is it that bothers you? It’s not that you think that he doesn’t care, right?

Enjolras shrugged. Maybe that was exactly what he thought. “Maybe he doesn’t want to see me anyway,” he whispered.

“I’m sure he does want to see you,” Combeferre said. “But he also knows how hard you study and he probably saw that you were excited about that job and didn’t want to ruin your good mood.”

“He ruined my good mood anyway,” Enjolras grumbled.

Combeferre remained silent, ensuring that Enjolras was aware of just how ridiculous his behavior was without uttering a single word.

Enjolras wasn’t sure what else to say at that point, so he just folded his arms across his chest and leaned back, sullenly staring at the ceiling of Combeferre’s room, wondering what the hell he was even doing.

He hadn’t planned on meeting Grantaire. He hadn’t planned on falling in love with him. All he’d ever wanted to do was to get a degree and find a job where he could do some good, to educate the people and make a difference. Having a boyfriend at the other end of the world had never been part of the plan.

“Do you think…” he started, trailing off again, because he wasn’t so sure what he was even trying to ask.

Combeferre tilted his head. “Yeah?”

“Do you think I just rushed into this? That I didn’t think it through?”

“Enjolras, I know for a fact that you thought about this a lot. And you love Grantaire, would you really want to change that? Would you rather not be with him?” Combeferre asked. It was funny how he knew exactly what Enjolras was talking about. That this wasn’t about the summer job, but about Grantaire.

“Of course not,” Enjolras protested. “It’s just… he lives in New York. How is this ever going to work? Are we just going to fly back and forth for the rest of our lives? I mean, I’m not really _with_ him.”

“Well, it’s really up to you to figure out whether or not you want this and how you’re going to deal with this in the future,” Combeferre said. “But if you ask me, this is not a decision you should make on a whim just because you think that Grantaire wasn’t sad enough about you not coming to visit him.”

“I never said that he wasn’t _sad enough_ ,” Enjolras said gruffly. That really wasn’t his problem. His problem was that he’d wanted to see Grantaire this summer and that he’d thought that Grantaire had wanted to see him, too. Actually, part of him knew for sure that Grantaire had wanted to see him and yet he’d somehow doubted it for a second, which had somehow caused him to doubt everything.

Combeferre sighed. “You need to get some sleep.”

* * *

“You look grumpy,” Jehan mused as he sat down next to Grantaire.

He was right, Grantaire was grumpy. He didn’t have any reason to be – he’d just played a great set, the people at the club had actually cheered for him, even though he’d only opened for another band, half a dozen people had offered to buy him a drink and at the end of the night he might even be able to give Jehan all the money he owed him.

He really shouldn’t be in such a horrible mood. But there was a couple making out passionately right next to him, and the barkeeper was flirting with a guy, another couple only a few feet away was holding hands. Grantaire stared down at his drink, thinking of Enjolras.

And sure, he thought about Enjolras a lot, and he missed him a lot, but on some days he missed him even more than on others. And it hadn’t even been that long since they’d last seen each other in person, and it had been less than a day since they’d talked on the phone, so really, Grantaire shouldn’t be this grumpy.

“You were really good tonight,” Jehan went on. “So if you’re grumpy because you messed up a song, let me tell you that nobody noticed and everybody loved you.”

“No, that’s not it,” Grantaire said. For once, he definitely hadn’t messed up a single song, not even one of the newer ones.

Jehan leaned a little closer. “So what is it, then?”

“There’s happy people everywhere, it’s annoying,” Grantaire grumbled.

“Ah,” Jehan said, nodding knowingly.

“I just really miss Enjolras and I feel like it’s even worse since I went to Paris.” Grantaire shrugged. “Remember when I told you that I thought he might come visit me this summer? He was actually going to do that but now he found a summer job and it’s not like I’m not happy for him, but I just really want to see him.”

“But he’ll come some other time, right?” Jehan said. He leaned over and gave him a brief hug.

“I don’t know.” Enjolras had said he would but Grantaire had no idea when that would be. “I guess…”

“See, that’s great, it’ll be fine and…” Jehan trailed off when a guy stepped up to their table. Grantaire knew him, he managed the guys that he’d opened for.

“Grantaire,” he said, briefly nodding at Jehan before he sat down on the empty barstool next to Grantaire, “I liked your set. You have some real gems in there.”

“Thanks,” Grantaire said. That was probably the reason he’d been asked to play this gig in the first place, because some of his songs weren’t all that bad, but it was probably better not to say that out loud.

“Look, the boys and I were just talking and we think that it would be great to have you open for them when they go on tour this fall.”

Grantaire wasn’t quite if he’d heard right, but he was pretty sure that he’d just been asked to go on an actual tour with an actual band. He opened his mouth, but it seemed that he couldn’t quite get his voice to work at the moment.

“You obviously don’t have to decide right now, but I’ll get in touch with your manager, alright?”

Now was probably a good time to tell him that he didn’t have a manager. Grantaire cleared his throat. “Just, um, send them to my email address? You should have it, it’s–”

“Oh right, I have it, no worries.” He gave him a pat on the back. “I’d be great to have you on board.”

And with that he shook Grantaire’s and Jehan’s hands and walked off towards the door that led to the backstage rooms.

“Did he just…” Grantaire swallowed hard. “Did that really happen, I don’t think this actually happened, what the fuck.”

“Oh my god, you’re going on tour,” Jehan said, his eyes as wide as saucers, waving his arms around excitedly. “This is the best thing ever. I’ll come with you and sell your merch, okay? It’s going to be so great.”

“Wait a second,” Grantaire said. He needed to calm the fuck down, because right now he was feeling like he was about to have a brain aneurysm and it sure as hell wasn’t a nice feeling. “I don’t even know… I can’t go on tour, I have two jobs, I can’t just–”

“Stop right there,” Jehan said and clamped his hand over Grantaire’s mouth. “We’ll figure this out. You’re definitely going on tour and I don’t care what I have to do to make it happen.”

* * *

“A tour? With bands? And… honestly, I’m not so sure what else happens on tours, but that sounds really exciting.”

Even though Grantaire’s internet connection was particularly bad today and Enjolras could hardly even see him, he could tell that he was beaming. “Honestly, I still can’t believe this is actually going to happen.”

“You deserve it,” Enjolras said. Grantaire had been working so hard, even long before Enjolras had met him and his music was beautiful. Enjolras was glad that more people would get to hear it.

“To be honest, it’s really fucking complicated,” Grantaire said. “I’ll probably have to quit my job at the club because they won’t let me take a month off, but I’ll still have my job at the café when I get back, so that’s something.”

“Well, I suppose you’ll get money for the shows you play, too.”

“Yeah, but it’s really not that much.” Grantaire shrugged. “I wasn’t going to do it, but Jehan said he’d kick my ass if I didn’t, so I didn’t have much of a choice.”

“I’m glad that you decided to do it,” Enjolras told him. “I mean, it’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it?”

“Definitely,” Grantaire said. “I just still feel like it’s too good to be true.” He laughed. “I’m going to be on the road for a month. A whole month. We’re going to so many cool places and I get that all those people won’t come to see _me_ play, but it’s still a great opportunity because they will see me play… if they want to or not and I’m actually nervous just thinking about it, but…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “I’m rambling, I’m sorry, this is just really exciting.”

 _A whole month_. Enjolras hadn’t realized that it’d be so long. “So, when does that tour start?”

“October fifth,” Grantaire said, tilting his head, a smile on this face. Enjolras was pretty sure that he hadn’t seen Grantaire this happy in weeks. “I’ll send you a postcard from every city, I promise.”

“So we won’t be able to talk while you’re on tour?” Enjolras asked. “Not at all?”

“Nah, we should be able to talk,” Grantaire said. “I guess I’ll be sleeping in a van a lot, because since I don’t have a record deal or anything, I don’t really have a lot of options and I definitely don’t have the money to stay at hotels, but I’ll bring my laptop.” He winked at him. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find a wifi hotspot every now and then.”

“Good,” Enjolras said. He leaned closer to his laptop, smiling at Grantaire. “You know,” he went on, “I thought I could maybe come visit you this Christmas?”

Grantaire’s face fell. “Shit, Enjolras, I’d love for you to come, but I’ll probably have to work every fucking holiday shift I can get my hands on, so I’m really not sure if it’d make a lot of sense for you to come.”

“Oh,” Enjolras said, biting his lip. “I see…”

“Please don’t be angry,” Grantaire said. He was leaning closer, too, looking miserable. “I basically have to use all my vacation days for that tour, they’re really only letting me stay away for so long because they’re nice people and I basically can’t afford to take another day off in the next year or so if I want to keep that job.”

“I’m not angry,” Enjolras said quickly. Disappointed perhaps, but not angry. He wanted Grantaire to get the things that he wanted and if that meant that Enjolras had to wait a little longer until he got to see him, he certainly wouldn’t be happy, but he could live with it.

Quite frankly, Enjolras wouldn’t mind flying over there and not seeing Grantaire but cuddling up to him all night. But he knew that Grantaire was right – it just didn’t make a lot of sense.

Grantaire rubbed his hands over his face with a sigh. “I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Enjolras said. He was wishing so hard that he could reach out and hug him and run his fingers through Grantaire’s hair and kiss him. “I miss you,” he whispered.

“I miss you, too,” Grantaire said, smiling sadly.

* * *

_Enjolras: Look who’s here!_

Enjolras’ next message was a photo of him and Cosette, both of them grinning happily. They were probably still at the office, but going by the time Enjolras had sent the message they’d probably been on their lunch break.

_You: say hi to Cosette from me_

_You: (and hi to you too xx)_

Enjolras didn’t reply for another few hours. Grantaire really should have known that Enjolras would take this job really seriously.

It was his first day today and when they’d talked on Skype the day before, Enjolras had been ridiculously fidgety. Grantaire had actually found it endearing, but had tried to distract him as best as he could. At some point he’d given up and had told Enjolras to just go the fuck to bed.

_Enjolras: I spent all day calling people._

_Enjolras: I never want to call anyone ever again._

_You: :p_

_Enjolras: Except for you._

_Enjolras: Obviously ;-)_

_You: did you just send me a suggestive winky face_

_You: you’re such a flirt_

_Enjolras: It’s just a smiley face. There is nothing suggestive about it._

_You: sorry couldn’t help myself_

_You: so why were you calling people_

_Enjolras: We’re organizing a party. Valjean doesn’t have a lot of contacts in Paris, but he’s trying to expand. The offices are brand-new and they’ve hired lots of new people._

_Enjolras: You probably don’t care about this at all. I’m sorry._

_You: it’s okay i get that you’re excited_

_You: are you liking it so far_

_Enjolras: It’s a fantastic opportunity and Cosette is my boss. That makes things a lot easier._

_Enjolras: I have to go now. I’m introducing Cosette to everyone tonight._

_You: have fun x_

_Enjolras: I’ll talk to you soon xx_

_You: I sure hope so ;-)_

_Enjolras: Why are you sending me the suggestive smiley face?_

_You: HA so you admit that it’s suggestive_

_Enjolras: No, I don’t. That’s what you called it._

_You: ;-)_

_Enjolras: What are doing?_

_You: i have no idea_

_You: being suggestive?_

_You ;-) ;-)_

_Enjolras: I’m leaving now._

_You: :-(_

_Enjolras: When are you getting back from work?_

_You: i thought you’re leaving_

_Enjolras: Just answer the question, Grantaire._

_You: probably around 6_

_Enjolras: I’ll call you when I get home._

_You: are you sure_

_You: don’t you have to get up early tomorrow??_

_Enjolras: I do, but I also want to talk to you._

_You: :-)_

Enjolras didn’t reply anymore then, but Grantaire was excited to talk to him already.

* * *

“You look tired,” Grantaire greeted him.

Enjolras was tired. If he closed his eyes right now, he could probably sleep for a day. “I am,” Enjolras mumbled. He’d barely slept all week and he was so, so glad that it was Friday and that he could sleep in tomorrow.

The only reason he wasn’t fast asleep right now was because he’d promised Grantaire that he’d call him because they hadn’t had the chance to actually talk to each other in about two weeks.

“Why didn’t you–”

“Because I promised,” Enjolras grumbled.

“You’re ridiculous,” Grantaire said fondly. He was walking around in his room, disappearing every now and then. “I just…” He came walking closer to the camera, “I just have to get off this shirt because it’s way too fucking hot and I’m melting here.”

Grantaire tugged off his shirt and Enjolras didn’t quite manage to suppress a whine.

“What was that?” Grantaire asked, taking another step closer.

“You’re…” Enjolras took a deep breath. “Shirtless,” he whispered. “Very shirtless.”

“I can stop being shirtless, but I’d really rather not, because I’m not sure if I mentioned this, but it’s really fucking hot.”

“It’s okay you can be shirtless as you want,” Enjolras said lowly.

Grantaire grinned and picked up his laptop, then the video froze for a couple of seconds. When it started to work again, Grantaire had made it over to his bed and Enjolras had a fantastic view of his torso, which was just a little unfair.

“You look _so_ flustered,” Grantaire said, his grin growing even broader.

“I’m not flustered,” Enjolras said loudly. He was lucky that Combeferre and Courfeyrac weren’t home, otherwise they would have definitely heard.

“You know,” Grantaire said, “I could take more of my clothes off. If you wanted me to.”

“You mean…” Enjolras was blushing furiously, he could see it on his laptop screen. “But…” He laughed nervously. “What if someone is watching?”

“Who would be watching us?” Grantaire asked. “Jehan isn’t home and Courfeyrac and Combeferre aren’t either, right?”

“But what about hackers?”

“Oh yeah, I bet that hackers are really–” Grantaire stopped talking abruptly, rolling his eyes. “Never mind, Jehan’s home.”

Enjolras sighed.

“Well, I guess shirtless is all you’re getting.”

Enjolras laughed but it quickly turned into a yawn that he couldn’t quite hide.

“Time to go to bed,” Grantaire said.

“But we haven’t talked for long enough,” Enjolras protested. He knew he wouldn’t have time to talk to Grantaire all week.

“I know exactly what’s going to happen if we don’t hang up right now,” Grantaire said. “You’re going to fall asleep, probably sometime during the next ten minutes, and then it’ll take me forever to end this stupid call because you look way too adorable when you’re asleep.”

Enjolras only yawned again in reply.

* * *

“Look, I can cover the rent for October,” Jehan said, stirring his yoghurt absent-mindedly. “I mean, you won’t be here at all, it’s only fair.”

“Yeah, but you’re coming with me,” Grantaire protested. Jehan was only going to be there for half of his shows, but he’d still feel bad for not paying any rent at all.

“We’ll see,” Jehan mumbled, which was his way of letting Grantaire know that he’d already lost and shouldn’t even try to convince him otherwise.

Grantaire was glad that he didn’t have to go alone. He’d have Jehan there with him and Bahorel was going to be there for the whole tour. Grantaire had tried to explain to him several times that he couldn’t really pay him much, but Bahorel had only shaken his head and had muttered something about being disappointed because Grantaire thought he was only in it for the money. Grantaire hadn’t brought it up again ever since.

“By the way,” Grantaire said, “I did some shirt designs, do you want to take a look at them?”

“Sure,” Jehan said, giving him a kiss on the cheek as he walked by. “Where are they? In your room?”

“Yeah, they’re…” Grantaire got a little distracted when his phone chimed. He knew that it probably wasn’t Enjolras – he was at his big party tonight and shouldn’t actually have any time to text. “On my desk,” he said quickly before he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

_Enjolras: I need your help_

Grantaire immediately noticed the lack of punctuation. Something was definitely off. He could only hope that nothing had gone wrong at the party. Enjolras had been working so hard for everything to be absolutely perfect, it would have been a shame if something hadn’t worked out.

_You: what’s up?_

_Enjolras: I just went to get some fresh air, because I had to drink some champagne and I was starting to feel a bit woozy. Anyway, I walked outside and saw Marius and Cosette._

Grantaire was pretty sure that this wasn’t all that was to that story.

_You: And?_

_Enjolras: They were kissing_

_Enjolras: I have no idea what to do now?_

Grantaire snorted. He’d never met Marius, but apparently he was a friend of Courfeyrac’s and he seemed to be quite fond of Cosette. It was hard not to be – Cosette was an angel.

_You:  well good for them just leave them be_

_Enjolras: But now Valjean is looking for Cosette and I don’t know what to tell him. What if he finds them?_

_You: okay maybe you should go warn them_

_Enjolras: Why did this happen to me?_

_You: you can do this_

_You: i believe in you_

“These designs are amazing, do you– oh, are you texting Enjolras?”

Grantaire smirked. “Apparently Cosette is making out with one of Courfeyrac’s friends,” he told Jehan, who snorted.

“Is Cosette staying there for longer?”

“I’m not sure, but she obviously likes it there,” Grantaire said, quickly checking his phone. Enjolras hadn’t sent another message, so hopefully he was doing alright now.

Grantaire didn’t hear from him again until later on. He was working his shift at the club, but decided to take a quick break and found that Enjolras had sent him a couple of messages.

_Enjolras: I have news!_

_Enjolras: Now that I think about it, it’s probably not so exciting for you, but I just talked to Valjean and he offered me a job._

_Enjolras: He wants me to work for him once I graduate._

Grantaire smiled down at his phone. He’d always known that Enjolras wouldn’t have a hard time finding a job – he was going to go far one day.

_You: that’s great_

He probably should have added a smiley face. It didn’t look like he actually meant it

_Enjolras: I know that a job in New York would have been better._

Of course Grantaire had entertained the idea of him and Enjolras living in the same city one day, but he’d seen how much Enjolras loved Paris with his own eyes. He wouldn’t be happy for long if he moved to New York.

_You: don’t tell me you’d actually want to leave paris_

_Enjolras: This is probably a conversation we shouldn’t be having via text messages_

_You: well you’re not wrong_

It also wasn’t a conversation they should be having while Grantaire was on a break and while it was five in the morning in Paris.

_You: why are you even awake_

_Enjolras: Don’t try to change the subject._

_You: i seriously have to go back to work now but we can talk about this some other time if it makes you happy okay_

Grantaire sighed deeply. He shouldn’t have said anything.

* * *

Enjolras could feel his concentration slipping. All he had to do was to write a conclusion for this essay, then he’d be done, then he could do whatever he wanted to all evening.

It was just that he could hardly think of anything other than checking his phone _right away_.

He’d put in on silent mode, ironically because he’d thought he’d be able to concentrate on the task at hand much better if he didn’t get distracted by the chime that let him know that he’d got another message – most likely from Grantaire.

Six days ago he’d left New York together with Jehan and Bahorel, the three of them, Grantaire’s equipment and merchandise, and the rest of their belongings squeezed into Bahorel’s van. And Grantaire was doing his very best to keep Enjolras updated on where they were and what they were doing.

Enjolras had received several photos from random gas stations, of concert venues, of Jehan and Bahorel, sometimes asleep, sometimes awake, driving the van, eating tacos, sometimes with and sometimes without Grantaire.

This morning Enjolras had woken up to a message that had read: _i played a sold out show tonight i don’t even know how exactly i’m feeling right now holy shit anyway jehan took this picture while i was playing_. Attached had been the actual picture of Grantaire, alone on a huge stage, facing the crowd and holding up his guitar.

Enjolras had felt a swell of pride when he’d seen it – he could only hope that everyone out there was going to realize how incredibly talented Grantaire was.

With a tired sigh, Enjolras typed another two sentences, staring at them for a long time in a vain attempt to figure out if they even made sense and eventually gave up and put his laptop aside to fetch his phone from his bedside table.

As he’d expected there were already a couple of messages from Grantaire waiting for him.

_Grantaire: i’m not sure if i told you this but we have a day off today_

Enjolras did know. He’d never admit it, but he basically knew Grantaire’s tour schedule by heart.

_Grantaire: anyway we’re going to take a look around the city_

_Grantaire: (maybe i should figure out which city i’m in first)_

He was in Raleigh, North Carolina; Enjolras was at least eighty percent sure.

_Grantaire: but we checked into a motel because we thought not sleeping in the van for a night might be nice_

_Grantaire: we found a dubious looking diner it’s across from the motel we’re gonna try it tonight but i have free wifi at the motel so maybe i can call you before we all go get food poisoning?_

_You: I’ll leave my laptop on, just call whenever you have time._

He could turn back to finishing his essay now, but opened Skype first, even though he was sure that Grantaire probably wouldn’t call for another six hours or so.

Enjolras’ essay was done and proofread by Combeferre less than two hours later, he ordered pizza because Combeferre and Courfeyrac were going out for their monthly date night and he wasn’t in the mood to cook just for himself, and later on he studied for another hour or two until Grantaire eventually called him.

Only that it wasn’t Grantaire who showed up on his laptop screen when the picture had finally loaded. It was Jehan, who was waving at him with a delighted smile. “Enjolras, hello!”

“Hi,” Enjolras said, quickly getting over his initial surprise. “How are you?”

“Oh, I’m good, we’re having a great time,” Jehan replied. “But I guess you already know that. Anyway, Grantaire let me use his laptop and I saw that you were online and I figured I might as well say hey before Grantaire gets back. He’s in the shower.”

“And he’ll probably stay there for about an hour because we’ve seen way too many rest stop showers during the last couple of days,” Bahorel said from somewhere off-screen. Enjolras hadn’t met him too many times when he’d been in New York, but he definitely remembered his voice.

Jehan laughed, briefly looking to his left before he turned back to Enjolras. “And how are you? Grantaire said you found a job.”

“I did,” Enjolras confirmed.

Bahorel appeared next to Jehan all of a sudden. “I hope you’re not too busy to come visit us,” he said.

“I was actually going to talk to Grantaire about that, but I thought I should probably wait until he’s back in New York,” Enjolras said. “I’m sure he has enough on his mind already.”

“Can I let you in on a secret?” Jehan said lowly.

Enjolras raised an eyebrow.

“I think he’d be very happy to hear that you’re coming to visit him,” Jehan said. “He misses you and every time he talks about you he looks so sad, about as sad as you’re looking right now.”

Enjolras bit his lip. He missed Grantaire terribly and more often than once he’d played with the idea of just going to the airport and getting on the next flight to New York, but he really couldn’t stay away from university for much longer than a couple of days, so it would hardly be worth it to spend a fortune on a flight to the States if he could only stay there for such a short time.

Still, the thought kept creeping up on him, especially when he had a bad day and wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed with Grantaire and hold him close and never let him leave again.

Sometimes he caught himself thinking that it all was too much for him – not seeing Grantaire, not being with him for so long. It hurt, but he was sure that it would hurt even more not to be with him at all, to not be able to call him and send him silly text messages.

Enjolras sighed. “It’s nothing definite.”

“I still think you should tell him,” Jehan said.

“Who are you two talking to?”

“Grantaire,” Jehan said, smiling brightly, “we were just talking to Enjolras.”

“You’re talking to Enjolras?” Grantaire appeared seconds later, shirtless, his hair dripping. “Hey, sorry, I’ll be right back I’ll just–”

“Just sit down, Bahorel and I are gonna go for a walk,” Jehan said, waving at Enjolras before he disappeared. Bahorel said goodbye as well, then the picture got blurry for a bit.

“So, what’s up?” Grantaire asked.

“I can’t see you,” Enjolras said flatly.

“Well, that’s too bad, I’m basically naked and you can’t even see it,” Grantaire said, laughing. “Wait a second, I’ll restart the video.”

Grantaire did and reappeared a minute later, now wearing a shirt and boxers. Enjolras made a face. “I thought you were naked…”

“And I thought you might appreciate it if I put some clothes on,” Grantaire said with a wink. “Don’t want you to get all flustered again.”

Enjolras stuck out his tongue. He leaned back against the headboard of his bed, pulling his laptop a little closer. “Well, how’s the tour so far?”

“Honestly, I’m just freaking out twenty-four hours a day,” Grantaire said. The video froze again, this time only for a couple of seconds. “I’m so glad that Jehan and Bahorel came with me, I’d be so fucking lost without them. But yeah, it’s great, I’ve already met so many cool people and they’re actually buying my merch and my CDs, I had no idea that people still bought CDs. Someone even asked me to sign one.”

Enjolras smiled. “I’m so proud of you.”

Grantaire smiled right back at him. “I wish you could come to one of these shows,” he said. He tugged his fingers through his still damp curls. “Jehan recorded one of them, though, so maybe I can show you?”

“That would be great,” Enjolras said. “By the way, there’s something that Courfeyrac and Combeferre came up with and I wanted to ask you what you think about it.”

Grantaire tilted his head. “Okay?”

“Courfeyrac and I graduate next year and we thought it would be a good idea to go on a trip afterwards,” Enjolras explained. “Combeferre suggested New York.”

Grantaire smirked. “Always a good destination.”

“I agree,” Enjolras said. “So, would that be okay with you? I know it’s not until next year, but I’ll be really busy next spring, so I don’t think I can come see you any sooner and since Combeferre and Courfeyrac want to go to New York anyway I thought–”

“That’s a great idea,” Grantaire interrupted. “You’ll just have to call me a lot in between.”

“I will,” Enjolras promised.

Grantaire only managed to call him one more time while he was on tour when he had a day off in Chicago, other than that they had to rely on text messages. The varying time difference didn’t exactly make things easier, especially when Grantaire was in California, but he kept promising Enjolras that he’d call him as soon as he was back at his own place in Brooklyn.

Instead of a Skype call, however, Enjolras got an actual phone call.

For a second he wasn’t exactly sure if he was supposed to pick up, because he knew how insanely expensive it was for Grantaire to call him and maybe he’d just accidentally dialed his number. When Grantaire called a second time, Enjolras knew that something was up and picked up.

“Grantaire?”

“Enjolras, thank fuck,” Grantaire said. “Listen, I just…” He paused and Enjolras could hear the distinct sound of traffic in the background. “I got back to New York this morning and I met with this guy… he’s like a… label dude and I’m gonna record an album, shit I just really needed to tell you, I don’t even know if what I’m saying right now actually makes sense, but…” He laughed breathlessly. “I just needed to tell you. Like, right now.”

“You got a record deal?” Enjolras asked. He had no idea what to say to him – _I’m proud of you_ wouldn’t even remotely cut it.

“Yeah, I think that’s what just happened.”

* * *

“Why do these people have to yell so much?”

“Because they’re excited,” Grantaire said dryly. “They’re full of hope, Enjolras, they think the new year is going to be the one where their life changes forever because they’ll win the lottery or meet the love of their life or… something.”

“Don’t you think next year is going to be a good year?” Enjolras asked, sticking out his bottom lip.

Grantaire shrugged. “I guess it won’t be that bad.” He laughed when Enjolras rolled his eyes at him. “Well, I guess the part where you’re coming to visit me will actually be pretty good.”

“You’re also going to release an album and you’re going on tour and–”

“You’re making it sound like I’m gonna be rich and famous,” Grantaire interrupted. “Which isn’t true. I’ll still be a starving artist, only that I won’t be starving as much as before and I don’t actually have a regular income, which means I’m basically screwed if this album sucks and no one buys it.”

“People are going to buy it,” Enjolras said.

“Don’t say _people_ when you’re just talking about yourself,” Grantaire said. “Not that I don’t appreciate that you’re planning on buying my album when I totally would have given you a free copy.”

“You’ll have to sign it for me,” Enjolras told him, grinning broadly.

“Yeah, that’ll definitely increase its value. Makes it easier to sell it on ebay.”

Enjolras frowned. “I’m not going to…” He trailed off with a sigh. It was probably for the best, because his voice had started taking on a vaguely exasperated edge and Grantaire had already seen another argument coming.

He wouldn’t say that they argued a lot, but it certainly hadn’t always been as bad as it was right now when they got into a fight. Usually one of them had always apologized, but now there was complete radio silence on both ends, sometimes even for days on end.

Grantaire hated it, always worried that this time they might not make up because they were both too stubborn to make the first step. Not being able to talk things through properly only made things harder. It was too easy for both of them to avoid each other, not to answer a phone call, not to reply to a text. 

“It’s midnight,” Enjolras said, interrupting Grantaire’s train of thought.

 “Happy New Year,” Grantaire said, winking at him.

Enjolras grinned and curled up into a ball. “Only six more hours to go.”

“You’re seriously going to stay up until six in the morning, aren’t you?” Grantaire said, shaking his head. Enjolras had promised him that he’d stay up with Grantaire until it was midnight in New York, too, but six hours were a long time especially when you were already curled up in bed like Enjolras.

He grinned. “Oh yes, I am.”

“You’re going to fall asleep,” Grantaire said matte-of-factly.

“I will not.” Enjolras brushed a stray strand of hair out of his face. “I’ll just drink lots of coffee.”

He did, but it didn’t help much. They kept talking, but soon enough Grantaire noticed that Enjolras’ eyes kept fluttering shut and he eventually drifted off to sleep around eight o’clock. He’d stayed up for about two hours longer than Grantaire had anticipated – he’d actually expected Enjolras to fall asleep a minute past midnight.

Grantaire didn’t really have the heart to end their call just yet but would have found it a little strange to just watch him sleep for another four hours. He still allowed himself to do just that for a couple of minutes, then he picked up his notebook, doodling idly.

He’d insisted that he wanted to do the cover art for his album himself, that he’d design the shirts and whatever other merchandise there was going to be. Not that there was going to be a lot. The label he’d signed with was a fairly new one, they were just getting started themselves, but he did have a record deal and his first album was nearly done.

Unlike Enjolras, he wasn’t expecting it to be a huge success. He could only hope that it would sell enough copies for him to be allowed to record a second one.

He’d also be going on tour again, a smaller one this time, but he would be the main act. He’d love to say that it didn’t cause him sleepless nights already – at least Bahorel would be with him again. This time Grantaire could actually pay him for it.

Jehan peeked into his room about half an hour after Enjolras had fallen asleep on him. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”

Grantaire shushed him. “Enjolras is sleeping.”

Jehan raised his eyebrows and came tiptoeing over to him, glancing at his laptop. “Aw, look at him, he’s so cute,” he whispered. Jehan ruffled his hair. “You’ll see him soon.”

“Not soon enough,” Grantaire grumbled. Enjolras had offered to come here around Christmas and he’d been stupid enough to turn him down. Well, back then he hadn’t known that his whole life would be completely different by the end of the year.

He didn’t work at the café anymore, because he’d needed some time off to record his album, so he had a lot of free time on his hands. And of course he’d thought about finding another job, but he was going back on tour at the end of January, so he’d agreed to play a couple of shows in and around New York in the meantime, just so he wouldn’t end up being completely broke.

“Well,” Jehan said and kissed his cheek, “have fun with Sleeping Beauty.”

Grantaire snorted. “Thanks. Make sure Bahorel doesn’t end up in jail, okay?”

“Will do.” Jehan grinned at him and then left him to his sketches and his quietly snoring boyfriend.

* * *

Enjolras frowned down at his phone. No new messages. Obviously Grantaire didn’t _have_ to text him every day, he really didn’t expect it – at least not anymore – but during the last two weeks he’d sent a message every day, just to remind him that they’d see each other soon. Today he seemed to have forgotten.

Grantaire was busy, Enjolras understood that all too well, he was busy too, because he had finals to study for. But still.

Not seeing Grantaire in person was exhausting enough, but not seeing him at all was even worse. They hardly talked and every time Enjolras thought of him there was a now all too familiar ache in his chest.

Their situation was far from perfect, it had always been and he’d always known that this relationship would be a piece of work, but Enjolras had been so convinced that it was worth it. He still was, but he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of future they had when they hardly spoke to each other now. Enjolras was going to start working for Valjean soon and he wasn’t expecting to have a lot of free time, so what was going to happen then?

He’d wanted to talk about it months ago, but Grantaire had always successfully distracted him.

Enjolras really couldn’t blame him. Between his job and his uni work and Grantaire’s record deal, they’d had more than enough to talk about. Still, Enjolras knew that he had to bring it up at some point and it certainly wouldn’t be a pleasant conversation.

His phone chimed. Apparently Grantaire hadn’t forgotten about him after all.

_Grantaire: (this is late but) ten more days!!_

_You: I can’t wait to see you :-)_

Maybe it would go away. This feeling of uncertainty, of not knowing how on earth this relationship was supposed to work out in the end – it would go away.

**Author's Note:**

> I know this took forever, I'm really sorry that I kept you waiting for so long.


End file.
